President Joe Biden said Saturday that families of children separated from their parents at the US-Mexico border during Donald Trump’s presidency will need compensation, as the Justice Department negotiates an agreement with affected families.
Biden raised his voice, and said that regardless of the circumstances, money should be paid to people whose children were taken under the Trump administration’s family separation policy, which was intended to deter families from crossing the United States without permission.
“If, indeed, because of the outrageous behavior of the previous administration, you crossed the border, either legally or illegally, and lost your son — you lost your son, he’s gone — then you deserve some kind of compensation, no matter the circumstances. I have no idea,” Biden said. what it would be like. I have no idea”.
Shortly after taking office, Biden set up a task force to try to reunite hundreds of minors and parents affected by the policy, which ran for months through 2018 and sparked national and international outrage.
The government was considering paying about $450,000 to each person affected, but the number has since changed, albeit not drastically, a person familiar with the talks told the Associated Press who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are private.
Talks are ongoing and there is no guarantee that the parties will reach an agreement.
About 5,000 minors were separated from their parents under Trump’s “zero tolerance” rule when the parents were prosecuted for illegal border crossing, according to documents in a federal case in San Diego. Poor tracking systems have left many families separated for a long time. The payments are intended to compensate for psychological trauma.
Lawyers for the families are also seeking legal status in the United States for those separated under the practice, which a judge ended in June 2018, six days after Trump detained them under international pressure.
